The optimal wing sweep for flight of an aircraft varies based on speed. For instance, it is generally preferable to have a wing with little or no sweep at takeoff speeds, but such a wing performs poorly as speed increases towards supersonic speeds. In order to modify wing sweep, some aircraft, such as the F-14, F-111, and B-1B, employ a swing wing design where each wing is capable of pivoting such that the wings are symmetrically swept back.
However, an oblique wing may also be employed to modify wing sweep. An oblique wing is a single wing with a center pivot where one side sweeps forward and the other side sweeps backward. Such a wing is shown in the NASA AD-1 aircraft 100 of FIG. 1. U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,535, assigned to NASA, describes an oblique-wing supersonic aircraft. The contents of U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,535 are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
However, conventional oblique wing designs do not resist transverse bending, and are not sufficiently strong or stable for practical applications. Accordingly, an improved oblique wing design is needed.